Egypt Welcomes AU Decision To Reinstate Membership

Egypt’s foreign ministry released a statement on Tuesday welcoming the African Union’s decision to reinstate the country’s membership, Al-Ahram’s Arabic website reported.

“The decision reflected [the AU’s] respect for the will of the Egyptian people embodied in 30 June and finalising the first two milestones of the new roadmap: the constitutional referendum and the presidential election,” the ministry’s statement said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the AU’s Peace and Security Council unanimously agreed to unfreeze Egypt’s membership to the 54-member bloc.

The decision comes after almost a year of Egypt being suspended from the AU, days after the overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi, citing a need to restore “constitutional order”. It is the AU’s policy to suspend any member state that undergoes an “unconstitutional” change of government.

Egypt has so far finalised two out of three milestones of its post-Morsi roadmap, ratifying a new constitution in January and electing a new president in May.

The last step is the election of a parliament, the procedures for which must commence before 17 July, according to 2014’s amended national charter.

The foreign ministry statement further added that Egypt will continue its role in the region to “deepen and develop political, economic, social and cultural cooperation to reach the desired common goals of African nations”.

Source : Ahram online